Outreach, our signature volunteer program, involves chatting with people experiencing homelessness, offering them essential items, and most importantly, human connection. Each Outreach shift starts with our volunteers meeting in a public space where our Outreach Coordinator (OC) will brief everybody for the day. We then split into teams and walk a pre-set route round a CBD, meeting people experiencing homelessness, getting to know them, having conversations, and providing that essential human connection. We then meet up again at the end, spend some time to debrief, share our stories, and provide each other with care and support.

The Outreach Coordinator is the main organizer of an Outreach shift. OCs lead and take full responsibility of their assigned Outreach, running and managing the event on the day and being the main point of contact for both Volunteers and staff. OCs also manage small amounts of inventory, have a limited budget to make purchases on shift, and are encouraged to collaborate with other Mobilise volunteers and staff.

Specific duties and responsibilities include:

• Engaging with Volunteers on social media
• Gathering all Volunteers at the start of the shift
• Adhering to the pre-arranged date, time and location
• Motivate and guide Volunteers on shift
• Coordinating the even distribution of Volunteers on shift
• Purchasing goods on shift when necessary, keeping receipts and accurately filing expense claims
• Debriefing Volunteers at the end of each shift
• Completing a post-shift reporting survey
• Attend periodic meetings with VM and other OCs, when available
• Taking a lead on Health and Safety, and reporting any incidents or near-misses
• Engage with the wider Mobilise team, via Slack

The safety and wellbeing of all our volunteers is our highest priority - we won't force you into an uncomfortable situaiton, and you will never be asked to do something you're not willing to do. Full training and preparation will be provided, and Mobilise staff and senior volunteers will always be on hand to help when needed.

In return for volunteering with Mobilise, you get:

• Flexible commitment: Our Outreaches are just two-hour sessions on weekends.
• Learn about homelessness: Gain firsthand experience and challenge stereotypes.
• Develop valuable skills: Enhance your communication, empathy, and teamwork skills.
• Become part of a community: Meet like-minded individuals passionate about social change.
• Contribute to impactful research: Data from our Outreaches helps inform solutions for homelessness.
• Gain professional development: Mobilise are happy to provide references to any future employer about your time volunteering with us, as well as posting Linkedin recommendations for those wanting to build up their online presence!

It’s worth emphasizing at this point that the Outreach Coordinator is a more senior position at Mobilise, and we are looking for someone who has some volunteer experience behind them (though supervisory experience is by no means essential). While there is no formal interview process per se, we will be having at least two phone calls with any potential OC beforehand, as well as asking them to attend at least a few Outreach events if they haven’t previously. OCs will also be asked to sign a formal ‘Roles and Responsibilities’ document cementing their duties in writing. If you do decide to join us, you’ll be joining a very supportive and welcoming team of around a dozen OCs spread across four states. The staff here at Mobilise are very focused on the life of an OC, and every effort will be made to make sure you are trained, prepared, and ready to take on your new role. If this challenge entices you and you want the chance to use your leadership skills to make a real and tangible difference to your local community, want to become part of a strong support network, and want to meet some amazing people, we’d love to hear from you!

Next steps:

• Fill in an application on SEEK, or
• Email our Volunteer Manager, Josh Chaim, at josh.chaim@wearemobilise.com with an expression of interest to become an Outreach Coordinator. Please include details about yourself, your experience, and what draws you to this position.
• Join our Facebook group 'Mobilise Outreach', where you'll be able to see our upcoming Outreach events and keep up to date on all things Mobilise!
• We'd also encourage you to go to our website and fill in the 'Get Involved' form to join our mailing list.

We're in a huge stage of growth and this is going to be a big year for Mobilise so there's no better time to come onboard! If you’d like some more information or just want to say hello, please drop us a line at outreach@wearemobilise.com

Thanks, see you out there!